Politics House passes tough penalties for those who attack, ambush law enforcement officers

An Arizona police officer narrowly escaped injury responding to a domestic violence incident on Friday when a man opened fire and a bullet hit the officer's belt, officials said.An Arizona police officer narrowly escaped injury while responding to a domestic violence incident on Friday when a man opened fire and a bullet hit the cop's belt, officials said.

It specifies that the tougher penalties for crimes against officers still apply if they are not on duty when they are attacked , and triggers tougher penalties if prosecutors can prove an attacker “For myself and my colleagues, we all support police and law - enforcement officers ,” Bolding said.

More than a dozen states this year have passed laws that come down even harder on crimes against law enforcement officers . But they rose last year to 143, including 21 killed in ambushes — the highest number of such attacks in more than two decades.

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WASHINGTON — The House overwhelmingly passed a bill Wednesday that would toughen federal penalties against people who intentionally target law enforcement officers in attacks, including ambushes.

“Sadly, we’ve seen a recent rash and an increase in violence against officers especially in ambush-style attacks," Rep. John Rutherford, R-Fla., said Wednesday. “We as members of Congress must show the law enforcement community across this country that we support them and the important work that they do day in and day out. We must also show that those who wish to target police officers with violence that those attacks will not be tolerated."

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Police officers in Florida fatally shot a man who they said pulled a gun on them following a nearby road rage incident. .Seminole County Sheriff's spokeswoman Kim Cannaday tells news outlets the shooting happened Tuesday night in Lake Mary.

The Missouri House passed two bills Thursday that aim to give more protection to police officers . A similar system has been established in several other states in response to ambush -style killings of law enforcement personnel.

The House voted 382 to 35 late Wednesday to approve the “Protect and Serve Act of 2018.”

The measure proposed by Rutherford, a former Duval County sheriff, and Florida Rep. Val Demings, a Democrat, would make it a federal crime to intentionally assault a police officer with punishment up to 10 years. The punishment could be life in prison if the officer is killed or kidnapped.

"We cannot ask our officers to do this work while failing to cope with the consequences,'' Demings, a former Orlando police chief, tweeted earlier Wednesday. "We must take care of them so they can take care of us."

A similar measure in the Senate proposed by Sens. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., would make it a hate crime. The Hate Crimes Prevention Act makes it a federal crime to assault someone based on their perceived race, color, religion or national origin. The Senate bill would include the "status of the person as a law enforcement officer.''

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Unidentified attackers on Friday killed a guard and kidnapped three people, including two British tourists, in DR Congo's Virunga national park, a famed haven for gorillas and other endangered species, authorities said. "I confirm that our vehicle was attacked. Three people were kidnapped, including two tourists," park director Emmanuel de Merode said. Park spokesman Joel Wengamula said a guard was killed and added that two of the people kidnapped were British.On April 9, five rangers and a driver were killed in an ambush in the park, which was established in 1925.

More than a dozen states this year have passed “Blue Lives Matter” laws that come down even harder on crimes against law enforcement officers . The new laws came in reaction to a spike in deadly attacks on police last year.

The legislation is an answer to two recent attacks : the 2016 ambush that left six Dallas police officers dead and many more injured, and the 2015 attack on state District Judge Julie Abbott, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and other officials have called for enhanced penalties for attacking law enforcement .

The House vote comes during National Police Week when the nation honors fallen law enforcement officers.

National Police Week brings together thousands of law enforcement officers and family members of officers killed last year in the line of duty. The week includes a candlelight vigil Sunday and the National Peace Officers' Memorial Service where President Trump spoke Tuesday at the U.S. Capitol.

“We must end the attacks on our police and we must end them right now,’’ said Trump. “We believe criminals who kill our police should get the death penalty.”

Trump, who supports the bill, said on the most alarming crimes against officers is an ambush.

“I have directed the Justice Department to do everything in its power to defend the lives of American law enforcement,’’ he said.

Several law enforcement groups, including the Fraternal Order of Police and the National Association of Police Organizations, support the legislation.

Military investigation finds series of failures led to deadly Niger ambush

<p>A series of failures and deficiencies, including a lack of adequate training, contributed to the October 4, 2017, ambush.</p>Load Error

Missouri Governor Eric Greitens is pushing to toughen Missouri’s already stiff penalties for attacking a police officer , reflecting similar efforts underway in other states and pleasing many in Missouri’s law enforcement community. Whether such changes are needed is debatable – among those who think

“The ambush -style assaults, the murders of police officers across the country … can lead legislators to look at this and say ‘Yeah, this is a real problem.’ ” Besides, Johnson and others say, there are already tough penalties and enhanced death penalty considerations for killing law enforcement

But some civil rights groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, calling it unnecessary and say it duplicates many state laws already in place.

Vanita Gupta, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, called it a "misguided approach to justice system reform."

"The Protect and Serve Act inappropriately creates a new – yet duplicative – crime for offenses that 'target law enforcement,' furthering division between law enforcement and the communities they serve," she said in a statement.

New York Rep. Jerrold Nadler, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, called it a "wasted opportunity" to address other struggles in communities across the country.

He said there should be more efforts to improve relations between law enforcement and communities of color.

Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., the majority whip, urged support for the bill. He said he knows all too well the value of police protection.

Scalise was shot in the hip last summer while practicing with Republican colleagues for a congressional baseball game.

A Pentagon report said multiple failures, including a lack of proper training, led up to the deadly ambush in Niger last October . Four U.S. soldiers were killed and two others wounded. The team of American and Nigerien soldiers had been searching for a suspected terrorist for nearly 36 hours when they were ambushed. Gen. Thomas Waldhauser, commander of U.S. forces in Africa, said it came without warning."They had never seen anything in this magnitude, numbers, mobility and training. It was a total tactical surprise," he said.

Legislation that would make attacking police officers and judges a hate crime cleared the Texas Senate on Tuesday. John Cornyn and other officials have called for enhanced penalties for attacking law enforcement .

Harming a police officer is already a crime under federal law , and all 50 states have laws that enhance penalties for "NAPO has long been fighting to establish stricter penalties for those who harm or target for harm law enforcement officers .

Capitol Police officers, who shot the gunman, are credited with preventing the deaths of Scalise and dozens of lawmakers and staffers.

"They deserve this protection," said Scalise, who is still recovering and used two canes to leave the House chamber Wednesday. "We’ve seen too often in the last year, in the last two years where police officers were targeted by people because they wore a badge."

"We need to stand with them," he continued. “We need to make it crystal clear that we’re going to be standing with them and we’re going to have their back because more often than not they’re the ones who have our back."

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Law enforcement: Suspect in shooting of ATF agent arrested .
A law enforcement official says a suspect has been arrested in the shooting of an ATF agent in Chicago. The official is not authorized to talk about the arrest and spoke to The Associated Press only on condition of anonymity.The official says Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents arrested the man in Chicago on Monday night. A federal court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday morning.The suspect had been the subject of a massive manhunt since early Friday when the agent was shot in the face during what authorities described as a pre-dawn ambush in the Back of the Yards neighborhood on Chicago's South Side.

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It specifies that the tougher penalties for crimes against officers still apply if they are not on duty when they are attacked , and triggers tougher penalties if prosecutors can prove an attacker “For myself and my colleagues, we all support police and law - enforcement officers ,” Bolding said.

More than a dozen states this year have passed laws that come down even harder on crimes against law enforcement officers . But they rose last year to 143, including 21 killed in ambushes — the highest number of such attacks in more than two decades.

The Missouri House passed two bills Thursday that aim to give more protection to police officers . A similar system has been established in several other states in response to ambush -style killings of law enforcement personnel.

More than a dozen states this year have passed “Blue Lives Matter” laws that come down even harder on crimes against law enforcement officers . The new laws came in reaction to a spike in deadly attacks on police last year.

The legislation is an answer to two recent attacks : the 2016 ambush that left six Dallas police officers dead and many more injured, and the 2015 attack on state District Judge Julie Abbott, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and other officials have called for enhanced penalties for attacking law enforcement .

Missouri Governor Eric Greitens is pushing to toughen Missouri’s already stiff penalties for attacking a police officer , reflecting similar efforts underway in other states and pleasing many in Missouri’s law enforcement community. Whether such changes are needed is debatable – among those who think

“The ambush -style assaults, the murders of police officers across the country … can lead legislators to look at this and say ‘Yeah, this is a real problem.’ ” Besides, Johnson and others say, there are already tough penalties and enhanced death penalty considerations for killing law enforcement

Legislation that would make attacking police officers and judges a hate crime cleared the Texas Senate on Tuesday. John Cornyn and other officials have called for enhanced penalties for attacking law enforcement .

New bill offers police officers protections similar to those for hate - www.wktv.com

Harming a police officer is already a crime under federal law , and all 50 states have laws that enhance penalties for "NAPO has long been fighting to establish stricter penalties for those who harm or target for harm law enforcement officers .

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